The Texas Tribune: RACE & IMMIGRATIONhttp://www.texastribune.org/race-and-immigration/The latest articles about RACE & IMMIGRATIONen-usWed, 29 Jul 2015 06:00:00 -0500Legal Experts Question State's Immunity Claimhttp://www.texastribune.org/2015/07/29/legal-experts-case-against-dshs-should-move-forwar/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections
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<p>The state of Texas can't hide behind sovereign immunity to escape a lawsuit for denying birth certificates to U.S. citizen children of undocumented immigrants,&nbsp;the director of the University of Texas' Transnational Worker Rights Clinic said Tuesday.</p>
<p>That state's claim of immunity is mere "boilerplate," said Bill Beardall, who also serves as executive director of the Equal Justice Center, and the lawsuit against&nbsp;the Department of State Health Services should&nbsp;proceed.</p>
<p>&ldquo;The state filed a standard boilerplate response that states and state officials always file in these lawsuits,&rdquo; Beardall said.&nbsp;&ldquo;This is a form of discrimination.&rdquo;</p>
<p>The agency was sued in May by a group of undocumented immigrants whose children have not been issued birth certificates even though they&nbsp;were&nbsp;born in Texas and hold U.S. citizenship. The families claim&nbsp;the state has violated the 14th Amendment&rsquo;s Equal Protection Clause because it stopped accepting&nbsp;consular IDs and foreign passports as proof of the parents&rsquo; identities.&nbsp;</p>
<p>In a response last week, Attorney General <a href="http://www.texastribune.org/directory/ken-paxton/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections">Ken Paxton</a> argued that the agency enjoys&nbsp;sovereign immunity under the 11th Amendment and cannot be sued in federal court.<span style="text-decoration: line-through;"><br /></span></p>
<p>A spokesperson for the DSHS referred all inquiries to the attorney general&rsquo;s office, which declined comment&nbsp;because the case is ongoing.<span style="text-decoration: line-through;"><br /></span></p>
<p>Attorneys for the plaintiffs are preparing their response,&nbsp;and predict&nbsp;more plaintiffs will join the lawsuit. The suit was amended in June and now includes 17 families, but that number could&nbsp;grow by eight or 10, attorney Efren Olivares said.</p>
<p>&ldquo;This isn&rsquo;t the first time a state has been sued for violating the federal Constitution, so there are arguments and case law that support the possibility of suing the state,&rdquo; he said.<span style="text-decoration: line-through;"><br /></span></p>
<p>While some sovereignty&nbsp;claims&nbsp;have merit, Beardall said, U.S. Supreme Court case law includes precedents that private parties can sue state officials in their official capacities to enforce federal rights.<strong>&nbsp;</strong></p>
<p>Michael Gerhardt, a professor of constitutional law at the University of North Carolina&rsquo;s School of Law, said states often reply to lawsuits with an 11th Amendment argument.&nbsp;&ldquo;It doesn&rsquo;t necessarily mean it&rsquo;s illegitimate, but it also doesn&rsquo;t necessarily have merit,&rdquo; he said.</p>
<p>Instead, it could be a part of what he calls the state&rsquo;s &ldquo;rich judicial history&rdquo; that could influence how the case moves forward. He cites specifically Plyler v. Doe, the case where the Texas Legislature&rsquo;s attempt to deny undocumented students access to public education was rejected by the Supreme Court. In essence, Gerhardt said, the court decided that the children should be admitted and not punished based on something their parents had done.</p>
<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not hard to extrapolate from that that someone born in this country [is] going to be, presumably, a U.S. citizen,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;In this case you&rsquo;re talking about a federal right, and states cannot deny a federal right.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p>
Julián AguilarWed, 29 Jul 2015 06:00:00 -0500http://www.texastribune.org/2015/07/29/legal-experts-case-against-dshs-should-move-forwar/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20SectionsDetained Immigrant Families Face Uncertaintyhttp://www.texastribune.org/2015/07/28/despite-judges-ruling-questions-remain-detained-im/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections
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<p>More than 2,000 undocumented women and children being held in "deplorable" conditions at federal immigration detention centers are supposed to be released under a recent federal judge's order. But how long that takes and what happens to them next remains unclear, attorneys say.</p>
<p>Late Friday, U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee admonished the Obama administration for detaining thousands of undocumented immigrants from Central America in violation of a 1997&nbsp;legal<strong>&nbsp;</strong>settlement requiring&nbsp;that undocumented&nbsp;juveniles be<strong>&nbsp;</strong>held in the&nbsp; &ldquo;least restrictive setting appropriate to their age and special needs to ensure their protection and wellbeing,&rdquo; according to an analysis by the <a href="http://immigrantchildren.org/Flores_Case.html">Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law</a>.</p>
<p>Gee ordered that the women and children detained in Karnes City and Dilley, Texas, be released as soon as possible. (A smaller facility in Pennsylvania is also being used.) The administration has until Monday to respond to Gee&rsquo;s order, and 90 days to appeal her ruling.<span style="text-decoration: line-through;"><br /></span></p>
<p><span><span>&ldquo;We are disappointed with the court&rsquo;s decision and are reviewing it in consultation with the Department of Justice,&rdquo;</span>&nbsp;the Department of Homeland Security&nbsp;said in a statement on Friday.<span style="text-decoration: line-through;"><br /></span></span></p>
<p><span>The agency didn&rsquo;t respond to a follow-up email asking how the agency planned to move forward,&nbsp;or whether the families, if released, would be required to wear electronic monitoring devices or be released on bond.&nbsp;For now, attorneys working to free the immigrants say their job is far from over.<strong><br /></strong></span></p>
<p>"[We] will keep sending lawyers down to Texas until they are not needed anymore,&rdquo; said Rachel B. Tiven, the executive director of the New York-based <span>Immigrant Justice Corps</span>, which recruits and trains attorneys to handle pro bono immigration cases.&nbsp;<span>The IJC has trained 35 attorneys who rotate in<strong>&nbsp;</strong>two-weeks shifts in Dilley and Karnes. Thirty-five more will begin their rotations in September.</span></p>
<p>&ldquo;We need to see that 4-year-olds and their mothers are not in jail in South Texas before we stop,&rdquo; Tiven said.</p>
<p>Tiven and her colleagues want to ensure the families are given clear explanations of&nbsp;their rights once released. Undocumented immigrants face a number of options &mdash; and punishments &mdash; as they move forward with their cases. Pursuing legal status can range from seeking asylum to requesting that a case be administratively closed, also known as prosecutorial discretion.&nbsp;</p>
<p>In a letter to Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Sarah Salda&ntilde;a dated July 27, CARA,&nbsp;a coalition of members from&nbsp;the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.raicestexas.org/" target="_blank">Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services</a>, the&nbsp;<a href="https://cliniclegal.org/" target="_blank">Catholic Legal Immigration Network</a>, the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/" target="_blank">American Immigration Council</a>&nbsp;and the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.aila.org/">American Immigration Lawyers Association</a>, reiterated its request that ICE offer daily&nbsp;briefings&nbsp;to the women before&nbsp;they&nbsp;are&nbsp;released.</p>
<p>"The purpose of such presentations would be to explain reporting obligations, the importance of appearing for all scheduled appearances, the need to file an asylum application in advance of the one-year filing deadline, the individuals&rsquo; rights and obligations, and how to connect with pro bono attorneys in their cities of destination," the coalition wrote.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Unlike the criminal justice system, in which defendants are guaranteed counsel if they can&rsquo;t afford it, immigrants in detention are not afforded that right.&nbsp;And even with an attorney, getting legal advice isn&rsquo;t guaranteed.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Lawyers can&rsquo;t get access to their clients in a regular way, and women are being released without legal information they need about what their supposed to do next,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Women are still in jeopardy of being treated unfairly.&rdquo;</p>
<p>She said she&rsquo;s heard reports of women being told they &ldquo;absolutely&rdquo; have to wear an ankle monitor despite having an order from a judge that says they don&rsquo;t have to.</p>
<p>&ldquo;They are really being intimidated,&rdquo; she said.</p>
<p>But even limited access can mean a world of difference. Immigrants with attorneys are five times more likely to win an asylum case or another judgment allowing them to remain in the country legally compared with those without legal help,&nbsp;according to the IJC website.</p>
<p>The detention centers were created in response to a surge of undocumented immigrants who flooded the Rio Grande Valley last summer. About 50,000&nbsp;<a href="http://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/southwest-border-unaccompanied-children-2014">unaccompanied children</a>&nbsp;were caught or surrendered to border agents in the Rio Grande Valley sector in fiscal year 2014,&nbsp;and overall about 68,600 unaccompanied minors were apprehended along the southwest border. And about 68,400 family units were apprehended in 2014 on the southwest border, including about 52,300 in the Rio Grande Valley.&nbsp;</p>
Julián AguilarTue, 28 Jul 2015 06:00:00 -0500http://www.texastribune.org/2015/07/28/despite-judges-ruling-questions-remain-detained-im/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20SectionsFor Abbott, Trump Creates a Challenge With Hispanicshttp://www.texastribune.org/2015/07/23/abbott-trump-presents-challenge-hispanics/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections
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<p dir="ltr"><span>Hispanic Republican leaders in Texas have been&nbsp;largely satisfied with<strong>&nbsp;</strong>Gov. <a href="http://www.texastribune.org/directory/greg-abbott/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections">Greg Abbott</a>'s&nbsp;maiden year in office.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p dir="ltr">Early in his tenure, he <a href="http://www.texastribune.org/2014/11/11/abbott-says-he-will-name-cascos-secretary-state/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections">tapped Carlos Cascos</a>, a Hispanic Republican from the border, to serve as secretary of state. During his first legislative session, he <a href="http://www.texastribune.org/2015/06/09/abbott-signs-sweeping-border-security-bill/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections">signed off</a> on an $800 million infusion into the state's border security efforts. And he&rsquo;s made efforts to <a href="http://www.chron.com/news/politics/article/Abbott-meets-with-Mexican-officials-gets-invite-6376637.php">meet with Mexican officials</a>, and accepted an invitation to visit the state&rsquo;s partner in trade.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Then came Donald Trump.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>After jumping into the 2016 presidential race in June, the billionaire businessman&nbsp;made<strong>&nbsp;</strong>headlines for saying Mexico is &ldquo;not sending their best&rdquo; to the United States, leaving the country to deal with rapists, drug dealers and other criminals.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr">Many in the ever-expanding&nbsp;GOP field of presidential contenders&nbsp;admonished Trump for his remarks, and business partners quickly distanced themselves from his rhetoric.</p>
<p dir="ltr">But from Abbott &mdash; who has often boasted of&nbsp;his campaign&rsquo;s <a href="http://www.texastribune.org/2014/11/07/abbott-had-sophisticated-turnout-machine/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections">focus on increasing Hispanic support </a><span>for the GOP &mdash; there has been little but silence, and many of his Hispanic supporters have taken note.<span style="text-decoration: line-through;"><br /></span></span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Abbott's&nbsp;only comment on Trump&rsquo;s remarks came<strong>&nbsp;</strong>when prompted by an interviewer on the TV show&nbsp;<em>Fox &amp; Friends</em>. &ldquo;</span><span>I disagree with some of the tenor of Donald Trump, but the fact is, he has pointed out a great frustration that Americans have, and that is Washington, D.C., has not done its job to secure the border,"&nbsp;Abbott responded.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>But as Trump </span><a href="http://www.texastribune.org/2015/07/23/trump-keeps-texas-trip-after-union-pulls-out/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections"><span>touched down on the Texas-Mexico border</span></a><span> on Thursday, Hispanic Republicans called on the governor to take a more assertive approach to chastising Trump for his comments.<span style="text-decoration: line-through;"><br /></span></span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Artemio Muniz, state chairman of the Federation of Hispanic Republicans, said Abbott&rsquo;s low-key rebuke of Trump&rsquo;s &ldquo;tenor&rdquo; did little for the party&rsquo;s ability to make inroads with the growing Hispanic electorate.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>&ldquo;In order for me to go out there and win hearts and minds, I need the people at the top to do their job in remembering and protecting this relationship,&rdquo; Muniz said. &ldquo;We definitely need more, especially from Texas leaders. Trump&rsquo;s comments have really damaged that relationship.&rdquo;</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Abbott&rsquo;s office did not respond to a request for comment.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>The Texas GOP has attempted to broaden its appeal to the Hispanic community &mdash; which, at 10 million people, makes up 38 percent of the state&rsquo;s population and is expected to reach a majority in three decades or so.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>But Hispanic Republicans noted that Abbott&rsquo;s response differed&nbsp;markedly&nbsp;from<strong>&nbsp;</strong>that of former Gov. <a href="http://www.texastribune.org/directory/rick-perry/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections">Rick Perry</a>, who has </span><span><a href="http://www.texastribune.org/2015/07/02/perry-emerges-leading-anti-trump-voice-gop/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections">emerged as Trump&rsquo;s leading critic</a>.</span><span style="text-decoration: line-through;"><br /></span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Soon after Trump&rsquo;s announcement, Perry lambasted the billionaire's&nbsp;remarks while praising Hispanic immigrants&rsquo; &ldquo;extraordinary" service to the country. </span><span>More recently, Perry </span><a href="http://www.texastribune.org/2015/07/22/rick-perry-donald-trump-dc/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections"><span>told a D.C. crowd</span></a><span> that Trump &ldquo;is wrongly demonizing Mexican-Americans for political sport.&rdquo; And on the morning of Trump&rsquo;s border trip, Perry said he hoped Trump &ldquo;will explain to the Hispanic Americans he meets why he thinks they are rapists and murderers.&rdquo;</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Trump has </span><a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/623500394686251008"><span>shot back</span></a><span>, saying Perry should be ashamed for doing &ldquo;an absolutely horrible job of securing the border&rdquo; all the while describing Abbott as &ldquo;terrific.&rdquo;</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Mission Mayor Beto Salinas, who endorsed the governor during his campaign, suggested that Abbott, as Perry's successor, should take seriously Trump's criticism of the former governor.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>"He should be a little more vocal because he knows that Gov. Perry had his hands on the border all the time, and all he did was just change hands," Salinas said, adding that Abbott should also part ways with the $35,000 he received in campaign cash from Trump.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>"He should give it back to him," Salinas said, recalling the </span><a href="http://www.texastribune.org/2014/09/21/abbott-hunt-hispanic-votes/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections"><span>Rio Grande Valley's support</span></a><span> for Abbott's campaign. "He came down, we supported him. We gave him more than $35,000."</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Election results show that Abbott doesn't have a strong hold on the Hispanic vote.<br /></span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Abbott lost the border counties he repeatedly visited during his campaign, taking 42 percent of the vote in Cameron County and 35 percent in Hidalgo County. Though his supporters often point to exit polls that showed Abbott won 44 percent of the Hispanic vote as part of his 20-point margin of victory, political observers </span><a href="http://www.texastribune.org/2014/12/07/abbott-balancing-act-far-right-and-hispanics/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections"><span>have reiterated</span></a><span> that his success among Hispanics was in a low-turnout election.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Abbott won&rsquo;t face the Hispanic electorate until he&rsquo;s up for re-election in 2018.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Other Hispanic Republicans refuted the thought that Abbott&rsquo;s faint reaction to Trump&nbsp;would sour the governor&rsquo;s appeal to Hispanic voters.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Though he commended Perry for his criticism of Trump, Hector De Leon, co-chairman of the<strong>&nbsp;</strong>Associated Republicans of Texas, said Abbott&rsquo;s response was in line with his more measured approach to politics.</span></p>
<p>&ldquo;Greg Abbott is a jurist and he has the temperament of a jurist,&rdquo; De Leon said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think it&rsquo;s any sort of a contradiction between his campaign rhetoric and outreach and where he is today. There&rsquo;s no question that he doesn&rsquo;t agree with Donald Trump.&rdquo;</p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Meanwhile, Trump&rsquo;s controversial comments have left some in the border business community &mdash; which is </span><a href="http://www.texastribune.org/2015/03/14/cruz-heavy-border-rhetoric-light-trips/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections"><span>used to fending off</span></a><span> fiery rhetoric about the area &mdash; wishing elected officials in Texas did more to debunk false statements made about the border and its residents.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>State leaders, including the governor, should make better use of their bully pulpit to fight &ldquo;reinforced misperceptions&rdquo; about the border that result from comments like those made by Trump, said Steve Ahlenius, president and CEO of the McAllen Chamber of Commerce.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a role for all elected officials,&rdquo; Ahlenius said.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Others offered that Abbott&rsquo;s approach is reflective of the GOP&rsquo;s two big challenges: balancing the interests of the Republican base and Hispanics, and reconciling the party&rsquo;s internal fractures.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>&ldquo;Keeping quiet signifies [Abbott] knows the political temperature of Texas and that temperature is in tune with a lot of the comments [Trump is] saying,&rdquo; said Victoria DeFrancesco Soto, a public affairs and political science professor at the University of Texas at Austin.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Trump&rsquo;s words have resonated with some Republican voters, helping him shoot to the top of the polls.&nbsp;And responses to Trump&rsquo;s remarks have</span><a href="http://www.texastribune.org/2015/07/21/trumps-run-widens-split-between-cruz-perry/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections"><span> further highlighted the split</span></a><span> between Perry and Tea Party darling U.S. Sen. <a href="http://www.texastribune.org/directory/ted-cruz/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections">Ted Cruz</a>, who has lauded Trump since announcing his candidacy.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>When it comes to Trump, DeFrancesco Soto said the contrasts between Perry and Cruz are emblematic of the ongoing divide within the Republican Party that is likely hindering Abbott from speaking up on the matter.</span></p>
<p>&ldquo;Right now we&rsquo;re seeing a civil war between the chamber of commerce types and the Tea Party types,&rdquo; DeFrancesco Soto said. &ldquo;And Greg Abbott is in the middle of it.&rdquo;</p>
<p dir="ltr"><em>Patrick Svitek contributed to this report.</em></p>
<p dir="ltr"><em></em><em>Disclosure: The University of Texas at Austin is a corporate sponsor of The Texas Tribune.&nbsp;A complete list of Tribune donors and sponsors can be viewed&nbsp;<a href="http://www.texastribune.org/support-us/donors-and-members/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections">here</a>.</em></p>
Alexa UraThu, 23 Jul 2015 19:42:08 -0500http://www.texastribune.org/2015/07/23/abbott-trump-presents-challenge-hispanics/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20SectionsState Asks Federal Judge to Dismiss Lawsuit Over Birth Certificateshttp://www.texastribune.org/2015/07/22/state-asks-court-dismiss-lawsuit-over-birth-certif/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections
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<p>Texas Attorney General <a href="http://www.texastribune.org/directory/ken-paxton/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections">Ken Paxton</a> on Wednesday asked a federal district judge to dismiss a lawsuit that claims a state agency violated the U.S. Constitution by denying birth certificates to U.S.-citizen children of immigrant parents.</p>
<p>Attorneys with Paxton&rsquo;s office said that the Texas Department of State Health Services, which is being sued by 17 families living in Cameron, Hidalgo and Starr counties, has sovereign immunity under the 11th Amendment and cannot be sued in federal court because it has not waived that right, according to court documents.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The immunity extends to interim DSHS Commissioner Kirk Cole and State Registrar Geraldine Harris, who are also named as defendants in the suit, Paxton's office argues.</p>
<p>A spokesperson in Paxton&rsquo;s office would not discuss the filing further, saying the &ldquo;motion speaks for itself.&rdquo; A spokesperson for the health agency was not available to comment.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Attorneys with the Texas Civil Rights Project and Texas RioGrande Legal Aid sued the agency in May on behalf of six U.S. citizen children and their parents, who are undocumented immigrants from Mexico, Honduras or Guatemala. In an&nbsp;<span>amended June filing the number of plaintiffs rose to 17 families.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span>The families claim that the agency is violating the 14th Amendment&rsquo;s Equal Protection Clause by denying birth certificates to children who are, in fact, U.S. citizens.</span></p>
<p>Local vital statistics offices, which are overseen by DSHS, have refused to accept what the families argue were once acceptable forms of IDs for non-citizens, including passports and Mexican matr&iacute;cula cards issued by the Mexican consulate offices throughout Texas.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Such refusal is de facto based on the immigration status of the Plaintiff parents. The lack of a birth certificate, in turn, is causing serious harm to all plaintiffs,&rdquo; the June filing states.</p>
<p>According to the DSHS website, non-citizens can request birth certificates if they have two secondary forms of identification, including a Mexican voter registration card or a foreign ID card with a photo of the applicant. Foreign passports are also acceptable if they have a valid U.S. visa, which <span>attorney Efr&eacute;n Olivares </span>said excludes his clients because they are undocumented.</p>
<p>The families also claim the state is improperly enforcing immigration laws, a responsibility belonging to the federal government.</p>
<p>In a <a href="http://www.texasobserver.org/children-of-immigrants-denied-citizenship/">statement</a> to the<em> Texas Observer</em> this month, a DSHS official said the agency accepts several forms of ID to verify identity but not the&nbsp;matr&iacute;culas consulares because the documents used to obtain them are not verified by the &ldquo;issuing agency.&rdquo;</p>
<p>The issuing agency is the United Mexican States, attorney Olivares said.</p>
<p>&ldquo;I would be curious to see if a similar ID issued from Canada&rdquo; received the same response, he said.</p>
<p>Olivares and lead attorney Jennifer Harbury also argue that if the state changed its policy, it did so without alerting the public or going through an official process.</p>
<p>According to the court filings, plaintiffs Diana Hernandez and Javier Reyes, Mexican citizens who moved to Texas more than a decade ago, received birth certificates for their children in 2009 and 2010 after showing their matr&iacute;cula cards. They tried again in January after their third child was born and were denied.</p>
<p>Harbury said Wednesday afternoon that her team would file a response after reading the state&rsquo;s motion. The problem appears more widespread than just the families in the lawsuit, she said.&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;What I know is there is a very large number of people who are afraid to come forward,&rdquo; she said.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
Julián AguilarWed, 22 Jul 2015 20:11:52 -0500http://www.texastribune.org/2015/07/22/state-asks-court-dismiss-lawsuit-over-birth-certif/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20SectionsSlideshow: Prairie View A&M Vigil for Sandra Blandhttp://www.texastribune.org/2015/07/20/slideshow-vigil-for-sandra-bland/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections
<p>Roughly 200 people gathered on the Prairie View A&amp;M campus on Sunday to share memories of Sandra Bland, who died in police custody three days after being pulled over for an improper lane change.&nbsp;</p>
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Callie RichmondMon, 20 Jul 2015 13:20:20 -0500http://www.texastribune.org/2015/07/20/slideshow-vigil-for-sandra-bland/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20SectionsLocals Hold Vigil, Grapple With Sandra Bland’s Deathhttp://www.texastribune.org/2015/07/18/locals-turn-out-protest-lack-answers-sandra-blands/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections
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<p dir="ltr"><span style="line-height: 1.35;">HEMPSTEAD &mdash; Crowded in the shade of the Waller County jail, roughly a dozen people kept vigil Friday afternoon for Sandra Bland, the 28-year-old woman who died in the jail days after arriving in the area to start a new job. </span><span style="line-height: 1.35;">Some sat in folding chairs, passing chilled water bottles in the 97-degree heat.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span style="line-height: 1.35;"><span>&ldquo;This can&rsquo;t just be something people tweet about. This woman is more than a hashtag,&rdquo; said the Rev. Hannah Bonner, of &nbsp;St. John&rsquo;s Church in downtown Houston. &ldquo;There has to be some visible sign of honoring this woman&rsquo;s life.&rdquo;</span></span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span style="line-height: 1.35;"><span><span>Bland was pulled over July 10 in Prairie View by a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper &mdash; identified as Brian Encinia by the DPS &mdash; for an improper lane change and arrested on a charge of assault on a public servant. She was taken to the Waller County jail, where she was found dead three days later, hanged from a partition in her cell with a trash bag used as a ligature.</span></span></span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span style="line-height: 1.35;"><span><span>Multiple investigations are underway, and Waller County officials have vowed they will hide nothing from Bland's family and the public.</span></span></span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Since Bland&rsquo;s death, social media has erupted with questions about the events surrounding her death, using hashtags including #JusticeForSandy and #WhatHappenedToSandraBland. In Waller County,&nbsp;</span><span>people turned out in person to protest, many of them students from Bland's alma mater, Prairie View A&amp;M.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span style="line-height: 1.35;">Bland graduated from the school's College of Agriculture in 2009, and was about to start a temporary job at its Cooperative Extension Program. </span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span style="line-height: 1.35;">Hundreds were estimated to have participated in a march students organized from the county jail to the courthouse Friday afternoon. Most had left by late in the afternoon, but roughly a dozen people, including Bonner, remained outside the jail, continuing a vigil that began Tuesday.</span><span style="line-height: 1.35;">&nbsp;</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Bonner said she decided to help organize the vigil after hearing Bland&rsquo;s story from members of her congregation who knew the 28-year-old.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>&ldquo;When it was brought to my attention by people who were close to her &hellip; it just felt like this is a tragedy, this is unacceptable,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s very clear to me that there was some foul play that took place here.&rdquo;</span></p>
<p dir="ltr">That Bland could be pulled over for an improper lane change and die three days later in jail struck many of them as unfathomable.</p>
<p dir="ltr">&ldquo;Something doesn&rsquo;t sound right,&rdquo; said Rhys Caraway, a Houston Community College student who has been participating in the vigil in shifts since Tuesday. &ldquo;I read an article that said this was her dream job at her alma mater. You don&rsquo;t go from cloud nine to zero in three days.&rdquo;</p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Bland&rsquo;s death is also being mourned at Prairie View A&amp;M itself. Roughly 8,300 students, nearly 85 percent of whom are black, attend the historically black university each year, but most do not live on the campus to take classes over the summer. The campus was largely empty Friday afternoon, and much of the conversation about Bland&rsquo;s death among students is taking place over social media, students said.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>&ldquo;Right now it&rsquo;s really scattered,&rdquo; said Carrington Johnson, a student senator who will be a sophomore in the fall. &ldquo;But if you hang around, you&rsquo;ll see that we&rsquo;re a family.&rdquo;</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Many of the students walking around on campus Friday were incoming freshmen participating in summer programs or visiting the school for orientation.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Tayla Ranson, a Houston native who will be a freshman this fall, said she has been following the news on social networking sites Twitter and Tumblr. Bland&rsquo;s death worries her, especially because she will be driving in the area when she is a student.</span></p>
<p><span id="docs-internal-guid-b15ebfa5-9f07-9040-18b7-8ae5f65332f1"><span>&ldquo;The place where she got pulled over is close to here,&rdquo; said Ranson, who visited campus Friday for orientation. &ldquo;That could have been any one of us.&rdquo;</span></span></p>
<p><span><span><em>Disclosure: The Texas A&amp;M University System is a corporate sponsor of The Texas Tribune.&nbsp;A complete list of Tribune donors and sponsors can be viewed&nbsp;<a href="http://www.texastribune.org/support-us/donors-and-members/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections">here</a>.</em></span></span></p>
Sophia BollagSat, 18 Jul 2015 06:00:00 -0500http://www.texastribune.org/2015/07/18/locals-turn-out-protest-lack-answers-sandra-blands/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20SectionsU.S. Rep: Guzmán's Prison Escape an Insult to U.S. Law Enforcementhttp://www.texastribune.org/2015/07/12/us-rep-chapos-escape-insult-law-enforcement/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections
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<p>Sinaloa drug cartel leader Joaquin &ldquo;El Chapo&rdquo; Guzm&aacute;n's weekend escape&nbsp;from a Mexican prison is an affront to U.S. law enforcement, which has worked for years to build a case against the kingpin, a member of Texas' congressional delegation charged Sunday.</p>
<p>Guzm&aacute;n escaped through a 1-mile tunnel that authorities said was connected to the shower facilities in his cell at Mexico&rsquo;s maximum-security Altiplano prison, The Associated Press <a href="http://www.dallasnews.com/news/local-news/20150712-top-drug-lord-joaquin-el-chapo-guzman-escapes-prison-again-mexican-officials-say.ece?hootPostID=36c39627e1625d709d8af988104905ba">reported</a>.</p>
<p>He had been there there <a href="http://www.texastribune.org/2014/02/22/guzmans-arrest-greeted-caution-skepticism/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections" target="_blank">since shortly after his arrest</a> in February 2014 in the resort city of Mazatl&aacute;n.</p>
<p>U.S. Rep.<a href="http://www.texastribune.org/directory/filemon-vela/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections"> Filemon Vela</a>, D-Brownsville, the Democrats' ranking member on the <a href="https://homeland.house.gov/subcommittee-BMS" target="_blank">House&nbsp;Homeland Security Committee Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security</a>, said Sunday that had the U.S. been able to extradite the reputed warlord, Guzm&aacute;n's confinement would have been guaranteed.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Extradition is an important weapon in the U.S.-Mexico effort against the drug cartels,&rdquo; Vela said in an email.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Our inability to get Mexico to extradite Chapo Guzm&aacute;n, and indicted Tamaulipas Governors&nbsp;<a href="http://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/The-former-head-of-Tamaulipas-s-housing-agency-6131147.php">Tomas Yarrington</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="http://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/Former-Mexican-border-governor-indicted-6337757.php">Eugenio Hernandez Flores</a>&nbsp;is an insult to the law enforcement and prosecutorial personnel who have worked for years to build criminal cases against these drug profiteers,&rdquo; he added, referring to the former lawmakers who are also sought by U.S. authorities for their alleged dealings with Mexican cartels.</p>
<p>&ldquo;The United States needs to exercise stronger diplomatic muscle, ensure the recapture of Chapo Guzm&aacute;n and see to it that these three individuals be brought to the United States at once to face the charges that have been levied against them.&rdquo;</p>
<p>It marks the second escape for the kingpin, who fled in 2001 and was on the run until his capture last year. He was also sought by U.S. authorities and faces several charges in Texas and elsewhere across the country. He remains on the <a href="http://www.dea.gov/fugitives/elp/8EAD6E56-C8D6-42C6-8797-75D7ED3E6315.shtml">Most Wanted</a><span>&nbsp;list for the&nbsp;</span>Drug Enforcement Agency&rsquo;s El Paso division.</p>
<p>Guzm&aacute;n&rsquo;s escape is likely to rile U.S. officials, who have long been leery of the Mexican criminal justice system for repeatedly failing to punish known criminals. But it&rsquo;s also likely that Guzm&aacute;n&rsquo;s latest disappearance won&rsquo;t surprise many.</p>
<p>U.S. Rep. <a href="http://www.texastribune.org/directory/michael-mccaul/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections">Michael McCaul</a>, R-Austin, was among the first to sound alarm bells last year when he said the day after Guzm&aacute;n&rsquo;s arrest that extradition to the U.S. was in the best interest of both countries.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Chapo Guzm&aacute;n has a lot of ties in Mexico, a lot of corruption. That&rsquo;s how he escaped in 2001. We just want to make sure that doesn&rsquo;t happen again,&rdquo; McCaul, the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.texastribune.org/2014/02/23/mccaul-guzmans-extradition-hinges-sovereignty/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections">said</a> in February 2014.</p>
<p>Guzm&aacute;n&rsquo;s escape is also&nbsp; a major blow to Mexican President Enrique Pe&ntilde;a Nieto, who was lauded last year following the drug lord&rsquo;s apprehension. The Associated Press reported it was doubtful that Guzman&rsquo;s tunnel, which was equipped with a ventilation system and led to a house in a construction zone, was built without authorities having any knowledge.</p>
<p>Before his capture, Guzm&aacute;n&rsquo;s Sinaloa cartel wreaked havoc on the Texas-Mexico border, especially across the Rio Grande from El Paso in Ciudad Ju&aacute;rez. A war there between Guzm&aacute;n and the homeland Ju&aacute;rez cartel lasted more than three years and killed thousands of people. The Sinaloa cartel was also responsible for bloodshed in Tamaulipas, when it battled the Gulf and Zetas cartel for control of the smuggling routes that extend into Texas and beyond.</p>
<p>Though the violence was concentrated on the Mexican side, it sparked fears of &ldquo;spillover&rdquo; violence and became a hot-button issue for Texas Republicans who accused the Obama administration of failing to secure the border during Mexico&rsquo;s most violent period in history since its revolution in the 1910s.</p>
<p>The bloodshed also prompted lawmakers in Texas, specifically El Paso and Laredo, to push back against the perceptions that those cities were &ldquo;war zones.&rdquo;</p>
<p>It&rsquo;s unclear how what effect, if any, Guzm&aacute;n&rsquo;s escape will have on the cities that border Texas in Mexico. Guzm&aacute;n probably still led his organization from prison. But the weekend's news could spark unrest in smaller areas where drug routes are still up for grabs.</p>
<p>Oscar&nbsp;Hagelsieb, the assistant special agent in charge of the narcotics strike force and intelligence operations for the Department of Homeland Security, told the Tribune that the Valley of Ju&aacute;rez, across from rural El Paso County, was still in dispute.</p>
<p>&ldquo;That [smuggling route into Texas is] a very lucrative plaza. They are not going to go down without a fight,&rdquo; he told the Tribune in April.</p>
Julián AguilarSun, 12 Jul 2015 16:13:56 -0500http://www.texastribune.org/2015/07/12/us-rep-chapos-escape-insult-law-enforcement/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20SectionsTexas Expects Another Win Against Obama's Immigration Planhttp://www.texastribune.org/2015/07/10/state-hopes-stay-undefeated-against-obama-immigrat/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections
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<p>Attorneys for the Obama administration will try again on Friday to persuade a three-judge panel of the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans&nbsp;to let a controversial immigration policy take effect.</p>
<p>But supporters of the program, which would have shielded the bulk of Texas' 1.6 million undocumented immigrants from deportation,&nbsp;aren't optimistic. That's&nbsp;because two of the three judges selected to hear this week's arguments already weighed in once &mdash;&nbsp;refusing in May to overrule&nbsp;Brownsville-based federal judge Andrew Hanen, who&nbsp;halted the president's&nbsp;measure in February.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Obama's immigration policy, announced in November and&nbsp;known as Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents, or DAPA,&nbsp;would have allowed some 5 million undocumented immigrants nationwide to&nbsp;apply for a work permit if they passed background checks, steered clear of trouble and paid back taxes and fines.&nbsp;</p>
<p>In December, Gov. <a href="http://www.texastribune.org/directory/greg-abbott/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections">Greg Abbott</a> &mdash; then the state's attorney general &mdash;&nbsp;sued the Obama&nbsp;administration, arguing that the president had&nbsp;overstepped his authority by circumventing Congress and taking immigration reform&nbsp;matters into his own hands. Twenty-five other states have since joined the lawsuit against the federal government.</p>
<p>Current Attorney General <a href="http://www.texastribune.org/directory/ken-paxton/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections">Ken Paxton</a>, whose office is now handling the case, said in a statement that he is confident Texas will go three for three in its legal battle with the White House over the immigration program.</p>
<p>&ldquo;The Obama administration unilaterally rewrote the law, creating an amnesty program that will reward people who are here illegally with free government benefits,&rdquo; Paxton said. &ldquo;The district court rightly stopped this program in its tracks, and we will continue fighting President Obama&rsquo;s disregard for the rule of law.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Friday&rsquo;s arguments come roughly three months after attorneys for the U.S.&nbsp;Justice&nbsp;Department asked the 5th Circuit Court to lift Hanen&rsquo;s order, allowing the immigration measure to take effect&nbsp;while the issue played out in the courts. They argued then that&nbsp;the Texas-led coalition of states&nbsp;didn&rsquo;t have standing to sue to block the program.</p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.35;">But Texas Solicitor General Scott Keller, who will be arguing on behalf of the state on Friday, has&nbsp;said Texas would suffer harm because it would have to educate and provide health care for the immigrants who remain here under Obama's program. The state would&nbsp;also incur costs for having to issue some driver&rsquo;s licenses, he has argued.</span></p>
<p>Attorneys for the state go in with the upper hand this week, considering the fact that two of the judges denied the Obama administration's initial request in May. At the time, they ruled that &ldquo;the [federal] government is unlikely to succeed on the merits of its appeal.&rdquo;</p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.35;">Like they did ahead of the last set of arguments before the 5th Circuit, supporters of Obama&rsquo;s plan will rally in New Orleans on Friday to draw attention to what they say is needed&nbsp;immigration reform. Mary Moreno, the communications director for the Texas Organizing Project, a group of activists who support the president's initiative, said some 150 supporters from Texas will join forces with advocates from across the country.</span></p>
<p>&ldquo;Our main objective in making the trip is t0 continue putting the blame for this delay where it belongs, with Gov. Abbott,&rdquo; she said in an email. &ldquo;He is responsible for keeping our families in danger of deportation and separation.&rdquo;</p>
Julián AguilarFri, 10 Jul 2015 06:00:00 -0500http://www.texastribune.org/2015/07/10/state-hopes-stay-undefeated-against-obama-immigrat/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20SectionsMexican Official: Border Security a "Shared Responsibility"http://www.texastribune.org/2015/07/10/jose-antonio-meade-kuribrena-tt-interview/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections
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<p>During a visit to Texas this week, Mexican Foreign Affairs Secretary&nbsp;<span>Jos&eacute; Antonio Meade Kuribre&ntilde;a met Thursday with Gov. <a href="http://www.texastribune.org/directory/greg-abbott/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections">Greg Abbott</a> at the Governor's Mansion, where an Abbott spokesperson said they discussed&nbsp;<span>border security, infrastructure and trade</span>. Abbott said at a news conference that he had also accepted Meade's invitation to visit Mexico.</span></p>
<p><span>Meade, who previously served as a&nbsp;<span>secretary of energy and secretary of finance under former Mexican President Felipe Calder&oacute;n,</span>&nbsp;also visited the University of Texas at Austin, <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2015/07/09/ut-mexico-sign-deal-collaborate-research/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections" target="_blank">where a deal was signed</a> to allow&nbsp;top science and technology researchers to work temporarily at the university.</span></p>
<p>On Thursday, Meade spoke to The Texas Tribune about border economics and security, immigration, and the need for Texas and Mexico to keep their relationship strong in the face of changing dynamics on both sides of the Rio Grande.</p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.35;">The following is an edited and condensed transcript of the interview.</span></p>
<p><strong>Texas Tribune:</strong> Newly appointed Texas Secretary of State Carlos Cascos has<a href="http://www.texastribune.org/2015/05/21/sos-cascos-ready-move-past-voter-id-partisan-issue/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections">&nbsp;been</a> to Mexico City. It was deemed as an important step to ensure ties between Mexico and Texas remain strong. But Gov. <a href="http://www.texastribune.org/directory/greg-abbott/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections">Greg Abbott</a>, as attorney general,&nbsp;has been a leader in the charge against the president&rsquo;s immigration action, which would have benefited hundreds of thousands of Mexicans. Is there any tension there [between you and the governor]?</p>
<p><strong>Meade Kuribre&ntilde;a:</strong> First, there are very few relationships as important to Mexico as the one that we have with Texas. To put it in perspective, the U.S. trades with Great Britain less than Mexico trades with Texas. So for us it&rsquo;s important to take advantage of the signals that have been sent by this new administration. One of those important issues has to do with migration. We feel that the closer the gap between the rights of the immigrants and the rights of the citizens, the better it will be for those immigrants to have a better relationship where they are living now, and even the country of their origin.</p>
<p><strong>TT:</strong> Former Gov. <a href="http://www.texastribune.org/directory/rick-perry/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections">Rick Perry</a> said that you can&rsquo;t have a discussion about immigration reform without border security. He was also critical of Mexico during last summer&rsquo;s migration surge, saying it didn't do enough to prevent Central Americans from breaching its border. Do you think Mexico has taken steps in the right direction? Or do you think that criticism was warranted?</p>
<p><strong>Meade:</strong> We think that border security is a shared responsibility. And we think that border security has to be looked at from a joint perspective. And we think it needs to be addressed from that perspective, and that is something that we have recognized for a long time. The border has many elements to it. If viewed as a single economic region, it is very dynamic and very important, and it would be the fourth-largest economic region in the world. Mexico is doing what needs to be done in terms of security in our side, and we are committed to continuing doing it.</p>
<p><strong>TT:</strong> Migration from Mexico is at net zero, or perhaps even more people are returning than coming &hellip;</p>
<p><strong>Meade:</strong> It has been zero or negative since 2010.</p>
<p><strong>TT:</strong> Mexico also has, according to <em><a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/doliaestevez/2015/03/03/with-carlos-slim-leading-the-way-mexicos-billionaires-have-a-better-year/">Forbes</a>,</em> 16 of the richest people on Earth. Collectively they are responsible for 11.5 percent of the country&rsquo;s economy. Is seems like there is a small percent that owns a lot. And a large percent that don&rsquo;t have a lot.</p>
<p><strong>Meade:</strong> Not just in Mexico, but in Latin America, you have an important challenge with inequality. Collectively, we have done a good job of lifting people out of poverty. But the challenge of inequality is still very much present, even though as a region inequality has been trending downward in Latin America. But inequality is also an issue in the United States, so I think that from a policy perspective it&rsquo;s a challenge that we both face. We think we have done a good job in terms of security but also in creating more opportunities. The [energy and education] reforms are now being implemented and showing results and promise. So we think that the trends we have seen should probably continue.</p>
<p><strong>TT:</strong> Next year, there is a presidential election in this country. We&rsquo;re all familiar with Donald Trump&rsquo;s statements and what he said about Mexico. Former Gov. Perry said that was <a href="http://radio.foxnews.com/2015/07/09/rick-perry-donald-trump-is-disrespectful-to-mexicans-mexican-americans-2/">inappropriate</a>. U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz said Trump has a right to say what he thinks and he should be praised for <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/ted-cruz-defends-donald-trump-2015-6">bringing the issue</a> of illegal immigration to the forefront. Do you have any comments on Trump's statements?</p>
<p><strong>Meade:</strong> When in politics, any time that you bring prejudice, racism and just plain ignorance, it&rsquo;s not a good mix.</p>
<p><strong>TT:</strong> Is President Enrique Pe&ntilde;a Nieto&rsquo;s <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-27402388">security plan working</a>? Because it seems to be that folks in the Rio Grande Valley don&rsquo;t think it&rsquo;s working in <a href="http://www.wilsoncenter.org/publication/plan-tamaulipas-new-security-strategy-for-troubled-state">Tamaulipas</a>.</p>
<p><strong>Meade:</strong> If you put Mexico in order by level of violence, you see a picture on two levels. On the absolute level, you have regions in the country that are very stable and at peace. You have some parts of the country where the levels are comparable to what you see to Detroit or New Orleans or New Jersey. On average, Mexico, having seen the peak of violence in 2011, is now exactly at the Latin American average. That places us a little bit above Ecuador and a little bit below Panama. Last year, more than two-thirds of the states observed a decrease in the level of violence, and those were the states where about 80 percent of the population lived. What we are doing in Tamaulipas is what we did in Ciudad Ju&aacute;rez, and what we have done in every single one of these states: reinforce the local capacity with federal intervention.</p>
<p><strong>TT:</strong> There was a recent development announced that Mexico would allow U.S. agents to <a href="http://www.texastribune.org/2015/06/09/us-reps-arming-american-agents-mexico-right-move/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections">carry arms</a> in trade and immigration zones. What led to that change?</p>
<p><strong>Meade:</strong> A recognition that we&rsquo;re able to look at North America as one region. One way to make that view operational was to be able to do preclearance of people and cargo. That required us to be able to provide reciprocity in terms of the agents that are going to do that.</p>
<p><strong>TT:</strong> Do you have an early endorsement of any of the candidates running for U.S. president?</p>
<p><strong>Meade:</strong> No.</p>
<p><em>Ally Mutnick contributed to this report.</em></p>
<p><em>Disclosure: The University of Texas at Austin is a corporate sponsor of The Texas Tribune.&nbsp;</em><i>A complete list of Tribune donors and sponsors can be viewed&nbsp;</i><a href="http://www.texastribune.org/support-us/donors-and-members/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections"><i>here</i></a><i>.</i></p>
Julián AguilarFri, 10 Jul 2015 06:00:00 -0500http://www.texastribune.org/2015/07/10/jose-antonio-meade-kuribrena-tt-interview/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20SectionsRick Perry: Let's Pull Federal Funds From "Sanctuary Cities"http://www.texastribune.org/2015/07/09/perry-proposes-attack-sanctuary-cities/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections
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<p>Days after an undocumented laborer was charged with the murder of a San Francisco woman, former Gov. <a href="http://www.texastribune.org/directory/rick-perry/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections">Rick Perry</a> called for federal funding to be pulled from so-called sanctuary cities &mdash; the common term for local governments that don't enforce federal immigration laws.</p>
<p>In a statement, the GOP presidential candidate criticized San Francisco and other American cities "run by left-wing governments" for defying immigration laws and not working with federal authorities to prosecute undocumented immigrants.</p>
<p>The alleged gunman, Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez, was released by San&nbsp;Francisco&nbsp;law&nbsp;enforcement&nbsp;despite a&nbsp;request&nbsp;by Immigration&nbsp;and&nbsp;Customs Enforcement to notify the agency before his release, <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/03/us/san-francisco-killing-suspect-immigrant-deported/">according</a> to a CNN report.</p>
<p>The mere premise of sanctuary cities is controversial; many Democrats suggest it's a fake concept. GOP lawmakers have not been able to say how many Texas cities qualify, arguing that it's impossible to make such a list without a legal definition of a sanctuary city.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Perry's proposal, released via email on Thursday, includes making sanctuary cities ineligible for the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program, a U.S. Justice Department program that awards millions of dollars to local governments to ease the cost of jailing undocumented immigrants.</p>
<p>"It&rsquo;s not fair that some people try to jump the immigration line by coming across our border illegally," Perry said in the statement. "<span>Federal taxpayers shouldn&rsquo;t be forced to subsidize the irresponsible behavior of these governments."</span></p>
<p>Sanctuary cities should also be prohibited from applying for federal grants, Perry said, and federal immigration officials should be able to access local prisons "so as to verify the immigration status of people in those facilities."&nbsp;</p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.35;">This is not Perry's first offensive against sanctuary cities. The former governor added eliminating the local policy to his list of emergency items during the 2011 Legislature. He also called a special session the following summer and added the measure </span><a style="line-height: 1.35;" href="http://www.texastribune.org/2011/06/15/sanctuary-cities-bill-clears-texas-senate/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections">to the agenda</a><span style="line-height: 1.35;">. Specifically, the&nbsp;</span><span style="line-height: 1.35;">legislation Perry sought would have denied state funds to entities that ban certain law enforcement agencies from inquiring about the immigration status of any person who was legally detained or arrested. The measure didn't pass.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.35;">The San Francisco murder on July 1 brought sanctuary cities back into the national spotlight. <span>Lopez-Sanchez</span>&nbsp;is a convicted felon from Mexico who had been deported several times.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.35;">Supporters of sanctuary cities say their policies help local police officers connect with immigrants and strengthen public safety. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton reiterated her support for the policies in a statement Thursday.</span></p>
Ally MutnickThu, 09 Jul 2015 13:45:13 -0500http://www.texastribune.org/2015/07/09/perry-proposes-attack-sanctuary-cities/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20SectionsHere's a Look at What Happened With Straus' and Patrick's Priority Billshttp://www.texastribune.org/2015/07/08/what-happened-patrick-and-straus-priority-bills/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections
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<p>Along with their bully pulpits and control over the legislative process, Lt. Gov.&nbsp;<a title="" href="http://www.texastribune.org/directory/dan-patrick/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections" target="_blank">Dan Patrick</a>&nbsp;and House Speaker&nbsp;<a href="http://www.texastribune.org/directory/joe-straus/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections" target="_blank">Joe Straus</a>&nbsp;had another valuable weapon in their efforts to influence the legislative session: low bill numbers.</p>
<p>While most bill numbers are assigned sequentially based on when they are filed, the speaker and the lieutenant governor traditionally award the lowest bill numbers to measures they view as priorities. The proposals that Straus selected for House Bills 1-20 and Patrick for Senate Bills 1-20 offered legislators and Capitol watchers a guide on where the two men were placing their political capital. The bills touched on some of the most contentious issues of the session, including gun rights, border security and school choice.&nbsp;(Straus never assigned three of his top 20 slots: HB 3, HB 16 and HB 17.)&nbsp;</p>
<p>Both Patrick and Straus managed to pass nearly all of their priority bills out of their respective chambers. But fewer than half of that total made it to Gov. <a href="http://www.texastribune.org/directory/greg-abbott/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections">Greg Abbott</a>&rsquo;s desk. Those that failed usually didn&rsquo;t have enough support in the other chamber, or the two chambers passed different versions and a compromise couldn&rsquo;t be hashed out in time.</p>
<p>Abbott ultimately signed 12 of the House&rsquo;s top 20 bills and four from the Senate. That includes <a href="http://txlege.texastribune.org/84/bills/HB1/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections">House Bill 1</a> and <a href="http://txlege.texastribune.org/84/bills/HB2/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections">House Bill 2</a>, the budget and supplemental budget that the two chambers alternate authoring each session. This session, it was the House&rsquo;s turn.</p>
<p><span>While Patrick didn&rsquo;t get as many of his&nbsp;</span><span class="il">priority</span><span>&nbsp;bills to&nbsp;</span><span class="il">Abbott</span><span>&rsquo;s desk as Straus, House versions of several of Patrick&rsquo;s&nbsp;</span><span class="il">priority</span><span>&nbsp;bills did become law, with Senate leaders helping shape the final outcome.</span></p>
<p>Scroll down to see the various categories, the related bills and links to descriptions of related issues in our <a href="http://txlege.texastribune.org/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections">Texas Legislative Guide</a>.</p>
Aman Batheja and Becca AaronsonWed, 08 Jul 2015 06:00:00 -0500http://www.texastribune.org/2015/07/08/what-happened-patrick-and-straus-priority-bills/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20SectionsDemocrats Ask Abbott for Task Force on Confederate Monumentshttp://www.texastribune.org/2015/07/06/democrats-want-task-force-confederate-monuments/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections
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<p dir="ltr"><sub><span>Editor's note: This story has been updated with comment from Texas House Speaker Joe Straus.</span></sub></p>
<p dir="ltr">On the same day that the South Carolina Legislature <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/07/us/south-carolina-capitol-confederate-battle-flag.html?_r=0"><span>voted to remove</span></a> the Confederate flag from its Capitol grounds, five&nbsp;Democratic lawmakers asked Gov. <a href="http://www.texastribune.org/directory/greg-abbott/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections">Greg Abbott</a> to consider the appropriateness of the Confederate monuments at their own Capitol.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>In a letter sent Monday to Abbott, Lt. Gov. <a href="http://www.texastribune.org/directory/dan-patrick/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections">Dan Patrick</a> and House Speaker <a href="http://www.texastribune.org/directory/joe-straus/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections">Joe Straus</a>, Democrats in the House and Senate asked for the creation of a task force to consider whether the numerous Confederate monuments, markers and statutes on the Capitol grounds are &ldquo;historically accurate, whether they are appropriately located on the Capitol grounds, and whether any changes are needed.&rdquo;</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>The letter was signed by state Sen. <a href="http://www.texastribune.org/directory/rodney-ellis/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections">Rodney Ellis</a> and state Reps. <a href="http://www.texastribune.org/directory/senfronia-thompson/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections">Senfronia Thompson</a> and <a href="http://www.texastribune.org/directory/sylvester-turner/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections">Sylvester Turner</a>, all Houston Democrats; state Sen. <a href="http://www.texastribune.org/directory/royce-west/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections">Royce West</a>, D-Dallas; and state Sen. <a href="http://www.texastribune.org/directory/judith-zaffirini/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections">Judith Zaffirini</a>,&nbsp;D-Laredo.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>&ldquo;As these debates play out across our country and state, we ask you to consider the Texas Capitol itself: the building in which we have the honor of working on behalf of all Texans,&rdquo; the letter reads. &ldquo;The Texas Capitol grounds feature numerous monuments dedicated to the Confederacy, many of which espouse a whitewashed version of history.&rdquo;</span></p>
<p>Requests for comment from Abbott and Patrick were not returned.</p>
<p>A spokesman for Straus said the speaker "looks forward to visiting with these legislators about their concerns and would welcome a discussion with them and others about all monuments on the grounds of the Capitol."</p>
<p>There are <a href="http://www.texastribune.org/2012/05/09/interactive-map-capitol-confederate-markers/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections">more than a dozen markers</a> on the Capitol grounds that overtly reference the Confederacy, according to the State Preservation Board. Those include a Confederate Soldiers&rsquo; Monument on the south grounds and several portraits that hang in the Capitol chambers.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>In the letter, the lawmakers cited the need to assess certain markers &mdash; including a plaque in a first-floor corridor of the Capitol honoring the &ldquo;Children of the Confederacy&rdquo; &mdash; that &ldquo;assert the outright falsehood&rdquo; that the Civil War &ldquo;was not a rebellion, nor was its underlying cause to sustain slavery."</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>The lawmakers asked that the task force be made up of business, religious and education leaders to allow for a &ldquo;serious conversation about how best to honor Texas' heritage and past &ndash; while at the same time ensuring historical accuracy and that we celebrate figures worthy of our praise.&rdquo;</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Momentum around the removal of Confederate monuments and symbols across the South </span><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/06/23/us/Calls-to-Cut-Ties-to-Symbols-of-the-South.html?action=click&amp;contentCollection=U.S.&amp;module=RelatedCoverage&amp;region=Marginalia&amp;pgtype=article"><span>has picked up</span></a><span> since the fatal shootings last month of nine people inside a historic black church in South Carolina. The man charged in the shootings, Dylann Roof, was reportedly influenced by white supremacists and posed with the Confederate flag in photos.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>"The State Capitol is the public face of Texas, and as such it should be equally welcoming to all Texans," the lawmakers wrote. "Texas should add its voice to the states across the country already thoughtfully discussing whether state governments should laud the Confederacy and the fundamental wrong of one human owning another."</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>The request to the governor comes two weeks after the University of Texas at Austin </span><a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2015/06/23/confederate-statues-vandalized-ut-campus/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections"><span>announced the formation</span></a><span> of a task force to consider the future of Confederate statues on campus.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Additionally, </span><a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2015/07/01/majority-minority-schools-confederate-names/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections"><span>28 public schools in Texas</span></a><span> are also named after Confederate leaders, which have prompted cries for change from civil rights groups, some school leaders and parents.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><em>Disclosure: The University of Texas at Austin is a corporate sponsor of The Texas Tribune.&nbsp;A complete list of Tribune donors and sponsors can be viewed&nbsp;<a href="http://www.texastribune.org/support-us/donors-and-members/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections">here</a>.</em></p>
Alexa UraMon, 06 Jul 2015 16:52:23 -0500http://www.texastribune.org/2015/07/06/democrats-want-task-force-confederate-monuments/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20SectionsAt Majority-Minority Schools, Confederate Names Remainhttp://www.texastribune.org/2015/07/01/majority-minority-schools-confederate-names/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections
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<p><sub>Editor's note: This story has been updated&nbsp;to reflect the inclusion of Abilene ISD's Jackson Elementary to the list of schools that have been confirmed to be named after Confederate leaders.</sub></p>
<p>At Midland's Robert E. Lee High School &mdash; where 31 percent of the student body is&nbsp;white &mdash;&nbsp;the football team is nicknamed the Rebels and fans sometimes fly&nbsp;Confederate flags to show their support.&nbsp;But a civil rights group has called for change.</p>
<p>Across the state at Houston's Lee High School, which is&nbsp;4 percent white,&nbsp;district leaders dropped the &ldquo;Robert E.&rdquo; from the school&rsquo;s title years ago to distance the school from the Confederate general.</p>
<p>Those schools are two of many across the state grappling with old Confederate names. Many of those school names are decades old.&nbsp;But many of those schools&rsquo; populations represent the new Texas &ndash; with nonwhites making up more than half of their students.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p>The Texas Tribune identified 29 public schools in Texas named after Confederate leaders Lee, Jefferson Davis, Stonewall Jackson and Albert Sidney Johnston. (Scroll down to see the complete list of schools.) Of those,<strong>&nbsp;</strong>six<strong>&nbsp;</strong>have a majority of white students. Across the nation, there has been greater scrutiny of Confederate symbols and tributes after last month's fatal shooting of nine people inside a black church in South Carolina. Stores have stopped selling Confederate flags, statues on college campuses have been vandalized and names have been reconsidered.</p>
<p>Some changes have already been made at the Texas schools.<strong>&nbsp;</strong>In Midland, the Confederate flag was<a href="http://www.mrt.com/import/article_fb67dd8c-8a1f-5f2a-b194-5207598880a9.html"> eliminated as a school symbol in 1991</a>. But&nbsp;Marisa Kent, a 2012 graduate, said many fans and supporters still use it, with some white students hanging it in their truck windows.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Days after the Charleston shooting, the civil rights group <a href="https://www.facebook.com/unavozunida">Una Voz Unida</a> called on the Midland school district to change Lee High School's name. District offices are closed this week, and administrators couldn&rsquo;t be reached for comment on whether that&rsquo;s a possibility. But Kent said she thinks a change is unlikely. Many students and alumni value the tradition of the name, she said. &nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;People say he was a general in the war and his bravery needs to be recognized,&rdquo; she said, adding that she&rsquo;d like to at least see a discussion.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Cries for change are more popular in urban areas. Lee Elementary in Austin was founded in 1939. Now, the man the school is named for is rarely mentioned in classrooms, though a portrait of the general remains in a hallway.</p>
<p>&ldquo;You rarely see or hear the full name, except on the big sign on the top of the building,&rdquo; said Dave Junker, a white parent whose black adopted children attend the school. &ldquo;There has clearly been ambivalence about it over the last few years.&rdquo;</p>
<p>The school is 63&nbsp;percent white. It&rsquo;s diverse, but less so than the rest of Austin ISD, said Junker. He&rsquo;s part of a committee of parents, teachers and administrators that plans to meet next month to consider dropping the name.</p>
<p>That kind of discussion will also happen at Houston ISD, which has four schools named after Confederate leaders, including Lee High School.&nbsp;School board president Rhonda Skillern-Jones <a href="http://www.chron.com/news/education/article/HISD-board-president-backs-changing-6349865.php">has said she plans to propose renaming the schools soon</a>, but nothing has been made official.&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;We are looking into this issue and are certainly open to having conversations about it,&rdquo; said district spokeswoman Holly Huffman.&nbsp;</p>
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Matthew Watkins, Mallory Busch and Annie DanielWed, 01 Jul 2015 06:00:00 -0500http://www.texastribune.org/2015/07/01/majority-minority-schools-confederate-names/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20SectionsFeds Set New Policies for LGBT Detaineeshttp://www.texastribune.org/2015/06/29/ice-sets-new-guidance-policies-transgender-immigra/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections
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<p>Immigration and Customs Enforcement will implement new guidelines designed to better protect transgender people in immigration detention facilities, the agency&nbsp;<a href="http://www.ice.gov/news/releases/ice-issues-new-guidance-care-transgender-individuals-custody">announced</a><span>&nbsp;Monday</span>.</p>
<p>The announcement comes after 35 congressional Democrats <a href="http://www.texastribune.org/2015/06/27/advocates-shed-new-light-lgbt-asylum-seekers/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections">wrote</a> to U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson earlier this month asking ICE to change its policies toward those detainees. The lawmakers also asked ICE to collect better data on how many people flee their homelands for fear of persecution because they are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender.</p>
<p>&ldquo;We want to make sure our employees have the tools and resources available to learn more about how to interact with transgender individuals and ensure effective standards exist to house and care for them throughout the custody cycle,&rdquo; Thomas Homan, executive assistant director for ICE&rsquo;s Office of Enforcement and Removal Operations, said in a statement.</p>
<p>According to the memorandum, ICE will now collect data on how many immigrants in its custody are transgender, and provide training and guidance to ICE officers to keep those detainees safe. ICE will also name a special coordinator to manage such issues for each of its 24 field offices.</p>
<p>Immigrant rights groups said the proposed changes don&rsquo;t go far enough, and that the agency must back up its words with deeds.</p>
<p>&ldquo;A guidance document cannot be expected to change the fact that DHS and&nbsp;ICE&nbsp;have consistently failed at maintaining a minimum of safety and dignity for transgender immigrants,&rdquo; a coalition of immigrant rights groups, including Familia: Trans Queer Liberation Movement and the Transgender Law Center, said in a statement.&nbsp;&ldquo;Transgender immigrants and other vulnerable populations, including mothers with their children and gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer detainees, should be released from detention.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Monday&rsquo;s announcement comes a day before immigrant rights groups and LGBT supporters are scheduled to rally at the White House to protest the detention of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender immigrants in ICE facilities.&nbsp;</p>
Julián AguilarMon, 29 Jun 2015 16:44:36 -0500http://www.texastribune.org/2015/06/29/ice-sets-new-guidance-policies-transgender-immigra/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20SectionsDemand for Bilingual 911 Services Growinghttp://www.texastribune.org/2015/06/28/demand-bilingual-911-services-grows-population/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections
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<p dir="ltr"><span>When El Pasoans in distress dial 911, they can ask for help in English, Spanish or both.&nbsp;</span>To better serve the predominantly Hispanic region, the city<strong>&nbsp;</strong>has required its 911 call-takers to understand<strong> &mdash;&nbsp;</strong>and clearly and concisely speak &mdash; both languages since 1989.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>&ldquo;When we answer the phone, we need to be able to understand what the emergency is and ask the appropriate questions to get them the help they need,"&nbsp;<span>said Monica Puga, manager of human resources for the city's </span><span>fire department.</span><br /></span></p>
<p>In an increasingly diverse state that is already majority-minority, El Paso&rsquo;s bilingual requirement is apparently<strong>&nbsp;</strong>unique.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>State officials, 911 organizations and other stakeholders were unable to identify&nbsp;another Texas city or county that requires&nbsp;call takers to be fluent in English and Spanish.&nbsp;</span>But&nbsp;as<strong>&nbsp;</strong>the state&rsquo;s demographics lean&nbsp;toward a multi-language speaking population, some big cities&nbsp;are attempting to manage an increased demand for bilingual 911 call-takers.</p>
<p>The highest need&nbsp;is likely found along the border and in urban cores like Houston and Dallas&nbsp;with&nbsp;high rates of foreign-born immigrants unlikely to be fluent English speakers, said state demographer Lloyd Potter.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Harris County &mdash; home to Houston &mdash; and Dallas County have seen explosive&nbsp;Hispanic population<strong>&nbsp;</strong>growth&nbsp;in the last five years. But the two urban cores are also home to large foreign-born populations that&nbsp;primarily speak&nbsp;foreign&nbsp;languages other than Spanish.<br /></span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>As of 2013, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that 25 percent of Harris County&rsquo;s population was foreign-born. Of those, 61 percent spoke English less than &ldquo;very well.&rdquo;</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>An estimated&nbsp;23 percent of Dallas County's<strong>&nbsp;</strong>population was foreign-born in 2013, and 63 percent of that population spoke English less than &ldquo;very well.&rdquo;</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>&ldquo;You have to have [bilingual 911 call-takers] because a large percentage of people that are going to be calling aren&rsquo;t going to be able to communicate effectively in English,&rdquo; Potter said.</span></p>
<p>But adequately staffing 911 call centers after background investigations, testing and vetting is already a challenge, let alone when&nbsp;bilingual requirements are added, said Beth English, president of the Texas chapter of the National Emergency Number Association.</p>
<p>Though the state has been &ldquo;striving for years&rdquo; to increase its number of bilingual emergency operators,&nbsp;the increasing demand for Spanish-speaking 911 call-takers is much easier to meet along the border, English added.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>&ldquo;In places like El Paso, South Texas and areas like that, it may be a little easier because there is a wider applicant base of people that are bilingual,&rdquo; English said.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Though the state does not track how many bilingual 911 call-takers work at emergency centers, the Houston Emergency Center and Dallas Police Department say they are actively recruiting Spanish speakers.<span style="text-decoration: line-through;"><br /></span></span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span><span>Though it&rsquo;s not a hiring requirement,&nbsp;</span>Joe Laud, administration manager for the Houston Emergency Center, said most of his&nbsp;emergency telecommunicators, who answer about 9,000 calls a day, are bilingual. <span style="text-decoration: line-through;"><br /></span></span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>In Dallas, the police department </span><a href="http://crimeblog.dallasnews.com/2014/06/dallas-911-call-center-is-hiring.html/"><span>encourages</span></a><span> bilingual applicants,&nbsp;and they are &ldquo;definitely preferred,&rdquo; but bilingual skills are not mandatory, said Sgt.<strong>&nbsp;</strong></span><span>Alejandro Coss.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Having bilingual emergency responders on hand is important, Coss said, likening the advantages</span><span>&nbsp;to the &ldquo;extremely beneficial&rdquo; connection that bilingual patrol officers can make with individuals during a moment of crisis.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>In those moments of crisis, </span><span>emergency call centers without&nbsp;bilingual telecommunicators rely on Language Line, a round-the-clock, multi-language translation service that charges counties and cities by the minute.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Emergency assistance providers say it takes about 30 to 40 seconds for&nbsp;an&nbsp;English-speaking 911 operator&nbsp;to connect with a Language Line interpreter or translator on a three-way line with the caller.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr">Though English-speaking emergency call-takers&nbsp;have to pinpoint what foreign language a caller may be speaking, the 911 organizations say the service<strong>&nbsp;</strong>works well despite the many languages spoken by Texas' Asian-born population<span style="line-height: 1.35;">, which has&nbsp;</span><a style="line-height: 1.35;" href="http://www.texastribune.org/2015/05/14/report-where-texas-immigrants-are/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections">more than doubled</a><span style="line-height: 1.35;"> in recent years.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>With </span><a href="http://www.dallasnews.com/news/local-news/20120111-asian-indian-population-booming-in-dallas-fort-worth.ece"><span>booming Asian immigrant populations</span></a><span> in the Houston and Dallas areas, emergency telecommunicators there&nbsp;increasingly use Language Line to respond to calls from residents who speak Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese, among many other languages.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span style="line-height: 1.35;">In the Rio Grande Valley, where&nbsp;most&nbsp;911 call-takers are bilingual<strong>, </strong>they&nbsp;often use the translation service&nbsp;to assist<strong>&nbsp;</strong>Canadian &ldquo;Winter Texans&rdquo; &nbsp;&mdash; elderly individuals who seek the warm temperatures of the border during the winter months &mdash; who&nbsp;speak French, according to Sergio Castro, 911 director of the Lower Rio Grande Development Council.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span style="line-height: 1.35;">But in light of increasing demand for bilingual 911 operators, the Texas Telecommunicator Emergency Response Taskforce &mdash; a network of back-up emergency telecommunicators &mdash; is working to beef up its ability to provide bilingual assistance to emergency centers and call centers during natural disasters or other periods during which emergency calls may spike.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>&ldquo;Who does 911 call when 911 needs help too?&rdquo; said Laura Litzerman, a regional coordinator for the task force.&nbsp;</span>The emergency task force is planning training sessions for bilingual telecommunicators in some parts of South Texas in case an emergency center in another part of the state that lacks bilingual staff needs help.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>With a growing Hispanic population, the goal, Litzerman said, is to easily dispatch bilingual emergency telecommunicators into other regions of the state</span><span> &ldquo;so that they would be trained and be able to assist in something like this.&rdquo;</span></p>
Alexa UraSun, 28 Jun 2015 06:00:00 -0500http://www.texastribune.org/2015/06/28/demand-bilingual-911-services-grows-population/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20SectionsAdvocates Call for Release of Some LGBT Asylum-Seekershttp://www.texastribune.org/2015/06/27/advocates-shed-new-light-lgbt-asylum-seekers/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections
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<p>As millions waited this week for a landmark U.S.&nbsp;Supreme Court <a href="http://www.texastribune.org/2015/06/26/supreme-court-ruling-gay-marriage/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections">ruling</a> on gay marriage, dozens of<strong>&nbsp;</strong>LGBT immigrants sat in American detention centers after fleeing what they say is persecution in their homelands because of their sexual orientation.</p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.35;">Now, a coalition of attorneys, lawmakers and immigrant rights groups are calling on the federal government to release some of the asylum-seekers, arguing they remain at risk for violence while they are locked up. The groups also want the government to collect better data that would shed </span><span style="line-height: 1.35;">more</span><span style="line-height: 1.35;">&nbsp;light on how many people are fleeing </span><span style="line-height: 1.35;">because they are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.35;">Opponents of releasing asylum-seekers from detention centers say such immigrants would be unlikely to show up for hearings.</span></p>
<p>The issue hit close to home for many LGBT Texans when <a href="http://www.texastribune.org/2015/06/11/austin-church-offers-safe-haven-lgbt-guatemalan/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections">earlier this month</a>, Sulma Franco, a lesbian from Guatemala, sought sanctuary in a Central Austin church after being denied asylum.</p>
<p>Immigration Equality, a New York-based group&nbsp;that advocates&nbsp;and provides legal services for LGBT and HIV-positive immigrants across the country, recorded more than 500 cases involving LGBT asylum-seekers from 2010 to 2014. But that number is only a fraction of the bigger picture, said Sharita Gruberg, a policy analyst with the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/about/staff/gruberg-sharita/bio/">Center for American Progress.</a></p>
<p>Though immigration agents&nbsp;question asylum-seekers about their concerns, the federal government does not track the number of people seeking asylum specifically because they are LGBT.<strong><br /></strong></p>
<p>"We've been advocating for the government to collect data on this," she said. "We don't get a good picture of who's seeking protection."</p>
<p>LGBT&nbsp;asylum-seekers&nbsp;who are released from detention are likely to show up for their hearings&nbsp;because their cases have merit, said Vanessa&nbsp;Allyn, a managing attorney at <a href="http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/about">Human Rights First</a>, an advocacy group whose Houston office has secured two asylum claims for LGBT people&nbsp;in the past&nbsp;year&nbsp;and has five more pending.</p>
<p>&ldquo;The real question is: Why are we detaining these individuals in the first instance? If they can articulate a credible claim of fear on recognized grounds for protection, then they are going to show up for their hearings,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;There is no reason for them to disappear into the ether of the United States. They are definitely going to come and they are going to articulate their claim and they are probably going to be granted relief.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Her confidence stems from a 1994 decision in which<strong>&nbsp;</strong>a gay Cuban man was granted asylum due to his sexual orientation. In that case, known as the Toboso-Alfonso case, then-Attorney General Janet Reno <a href="http://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/eoir/legacy/2012/08/14/3222.pdf">ruled</a> that the man could seek protection due to persecution in his homeland.</p>
<p>&ldquo;That was precedential in 1994, so this [protection] has been around for actually quite a while,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s binding within all the asylum courts within the United States."</p>
<p>But the ruling also prompted concerns that asylum-seekers could lie and claim LGBT status in order to gain legal residency in the United States. That concern persists today.</p>
<p>Ira Mehlman, a spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a group that seeks to limit immigration to the United States, said LGBT people, like any asylum-seekers,<strong>&nbsp;</strong>should be vetted thoroughly to weed out fraud.</p>
<p>&ldquo;That&rsquo;s an ongoing concern across the board,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not new news; we&rsquo;ve been watching fraud in the asylum process for a long time.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Mehlman cited as proof the system is being gamed a <a href="http://judiciary.house.gov/index.cfm/2015/3/house-judiciary-committee-approves-bill-to-reform-asylum-laws">report</a> by the U.S.<strong>&nbsp;</strong>House Judiciary Committee that says the majority of asylum-seekers do not show up for their hearings.</p>
<p>Advocates have an army of Congressional Democrats on their side, however.</p>
<p>In a letter dated June 23, a group of 35 Congressional Democrats wrote to Department of Homeland of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson urging him to change current detention policies for LGBT&nbsp;people. Included on the correspondence were the signatures of U.S. Reps. <a href="http://www.texastribune.org/directory/lloyd-doggett/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections">Lloyd Doggett</a>, D-Austin, <a href="http://www.texastribune.org/directory/sheila-jackson-lee/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections">Sheila Jackson Lee</a>, D-Houston, <a href="http://www.texastribune.org/directory/marc-veasey/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections">Marc Veasey</a>, D-Fort Worth and <a href="http://www.texastribune.org/directory/al-green/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections">Al Green</a>, D-Houston.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Detention should almost never be used for vulnerable groups such as LGBT immigrants facing immigration proceedings," the letter said. "Recent surveys of jails and prisons by the Bureau of Justice Statistics found that non-heterosexual detainees experience sexual assault at up to ten times the rate of heterosexual men. The situation is starker for transgender detainees.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Mehlman said he agrees that all detainees, regardless of their claims, should be treated humanely. But he<strong>&nbsp;</strong>argues there is a reason to keep them in detention.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Bottom line is there is a very valid reason,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;They are not going anywhere. Whether they are LGBTQ or anyone else.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p>
Julián AguilarSat, 27 Jun 2015 06:00:00 -0500http://www.texastribune.org/2015/06/27/advocates-shed-new-light-lgbt-asylum-seekers/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20SectionsSee Demographics Shift by Texas Countyhttp://www.texastribune.org/2015/06/25/see-demographic-shift-tx-counties-2010-2014/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections
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<p><span id="docs-internal-guid-ab0ac36a-275f-386b-00a1-20a10c0b5ad6"><span style="line-height: 1.35;">Fueling&nbsp;</span><span style="line-height: 1.35;">projections that Texas' population will&nbsp;</span><a style="line-height: 1.35;" href="http://www.texastribune.org/2015/03/05/report-texas-population-double-2050/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections">double by 2050</a><span style="line-height: 1.35;">,</span><span style="line-height: 1.35;">&nbsp;</span><span style="line-height: 1.35;">the state's white, black and Hispanic populations all grew in size from 2010 to 2014, according to&nbsp;new race and ethnicity figures released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau.</span></span></p>
<p><span id="docs-internal-guid-ab0ac36a-275f-812e-85a7-d4730ae02e95">But while the percentage of black and Hispanic Texans ticked up slightly &mdash; black Texans by 0.2 percentage points, Hispanics by nearly 1 percentage point &mdash; the percentage of white Texans fell by nearly 2 percentage points.&nbsp;<span id="docs-internal-guid-ab0ac36a-278d-5459-c11c-6aa741b2e269"><span><br /></span></span></span></p>
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<p dir="ltr"><span>As Hispanics make up a larger portion of the workforce in Texas &mdash; one of four majority-minority states &mdash;<strong>&nbsp;</strong>they are<strong>&nbsp;</strong>moving into the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.texastribune.org/2015/05/21/interactive-texas-population-growth-2010-2014/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections">state's fast-growing suburbs</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;</span>counties adjacent to urban centers,&nbsp;in search of<strong>&nbsp;</strong>affordable housing and a better quality of life, said State Demographer Lloyd Potter.<span style="line-height: 1.35;">&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.35;">With job growth increasing in urban cores like San Antonio and Austin, it's no surprise that "suburban ring counties" like Hays, Comal and Williamson are experiencing fast growth among their Hispanic populations, Potter said.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.35;">&ldquo;More and more, our labor force is being driven by and is increasingly of Hispanic descent,&rdquo; Potter said. &ldquo;Essentially, as jobs are being created, that&rsquo;s where you&rsquo;re going to see more Hispanics moving because that&rsquo;s just the dynamics of our overall demographics.&rdquo;</span></p>
<p>A sizable increase in the Hispanic population in Montgomery County &mdash; home to most of The Woodlands and Conroe &mdash; is contributing to the fast growth of cities that were established as suburbs of Houston.</p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.35;">Though Hardin and Orange counties have small Hispanic populations, the East Texas counties experienced large growth among&nbsp;Hispanics largely because of the refinery industry in the area, Potter said.</span></p>
<p>Booming Midland and Ector counties &mdash; the two West Texas counties among the top 10 counties with the fastest-growing Hispanic populations &mdash; saw their populations boosted by an influx if Hispanic oil workers.</p>
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<p><span style="line-height: 1;">&nbsp;</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Starr County in the Rio Grande Valley is the county with the highest share of Hispanics at 95.8 percent. Five other border counties aren't far behind.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Among non-border counties with populations larger than 50,000, Nueces County &mdash; home to Corpus Christi &mdash; topped the list, with Hispanics making up 62.4 percent of the population.</span></p>
<p><span id="docs-internal-guid-ab0ac36a-2766-2a64-75a6-bebbb636b721"><span>Urban cores like Bexar, Harris and Dallas counties were among the 10 non-border counties with the largest share of Hispanics. They also have a larger share of Hispanics than the state overall. </span></span></p>
<p><span id="docs-internal-guid-ab0ac36a-2766-2a64-75a6-bebbb636b721"><span>The rural areas with the biggest Hispanic populations are largely on&nbsp;the outskirts of larger cities like San Angelo and Amarillo.</span></span></p>
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<p><em><span id="docs-internal-guid-ab0ac36a-2734-cd3c-e11f-19dba83c0988">This analysis includes people who identified themselves in the U.S. census as either non-Hispanic white, non-Hispanic black or Hispanic.</span></em></p>
Alexa Ura and Annie DanielThu, 25 Jun 2015 10:05:26 -0500http://www.texastribune.org/2015/06/25/see-demographic-shift-tx-counties-2010-2014/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20SectionsFeds to Curtail Use of Family Detention Centershttp://www.texastribune.org/2015/06/24/feds-curtail-use-family-detention-centers/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections
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<p dir="ltr"><span>After visiting a family detention center in Texas, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson announced Wednesday that families who enter the country illegally to seek asylum will no longer be detained after they&rsquo;ve established legitimate claim for relief.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Heeding </span><a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2015/05/immigrant-family-detention-house-democrats-obama-118317.html"><span>calls from Democrats</span></a><span> to end the practice of detaining families, Johnson said that the Department of Homeland Security is making &ldquo;substantial changes&rdquo; to its detention practices so that families with children are not unnecessarily kept locked up.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>&ldquo;In short, once a family has established eligibility for asylum or other relief under our laws, long-term detention is an inefficient use of our resources and should be discontinued,&rdquo; Johnson said in a </span><a href="http://www.dhs.gov/news/2015/06/24/statement-secretary-jeh-c-johnson-family-residential-centers"><span>statement</span></a><span>.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>The use of family detention centers has garnered national attention and controversy. Protesters have called for ending family detention after a surge of immigrants from Central America in mid-2014 &mdash; mostly adults with children, according to federal officials &mdash; prompted the Obama administration to increase its practice of detaining families in secure facilities.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Johnson&rsquo;s announcement came after he visited a detention center in Karnes City, Texas &mdash; one of two family detainment facilities in Texas. The other facility in Texas, and the largest in the U.S, is the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>The Dilley detention center was built in December 2014 to host up to 2,400 undocumented women and children seeking asylum, and it was the site of of a large protest in May during which </span><a href="http://www.texastribune.org/2015/05/02/immigrant-detention-protest-draws-crowd/?utm_source=texastribune.org&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections"><span>more than 500 protesters</span></a><span> gathered to call for its closure.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Democrats and immigrant rights activists had criticized the use of family detention centers, saying the jail-like conditions were not appropriate for vulnerable women and children who were seeking relief. The feds had defended the use of family detention centers, calling them effective and humane alternatives to housing immigrant families.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>But on Wednesday, Johnson said the family detention centers will only continue to be used to house families that have no legal claim to stay in the U.S.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>The department will reform its policies so that families that have stated a credible or reasonable fear of persecution in their home countries will be released with &ldquo;a reasonable and realistic&rdquo; monetary bond.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Johnson said he is also directing U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to speed up interviews with detained families to reduce the time they spend in the detention facilities.</span></p>
<p>&ldquo;In substance, the detention of families will be short term in most cases,&rdquo; Johnson said.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>In announcing the changes, Johnson said he was hopeful that Central American families would consider safe and lawful ways to migrate to the U.S.</span></p>
<p><span id="docs-internal-guid-01a3bb61-26a9-d73b-d33a-d49da483926f"><span>&ldquo;I have personally seen enough to know that the path of illegal migration from Central America to our southern border is a dangerous path and it is not for children,&rdquo; Johnson said.</span></span></p>
Alexa UraWed, 24 Jun 2015 13:02:44 -0500http://www.texastribune.org/2015/06/24/feds-curtail-use-family-detention-centers/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20SectionsInteractive Map: Confederate Statues on Texas Capitol Groundshttp://www.texastribune.org/2012/05/09/interactive-map-capitol-confederate-markers/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections
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<p><span>There are more than a dozen monuments, markers and statues that reference the Confederacy on the Texas Capitol grounds. Use our interactive map &mdash; first published in 2012 &mdash; to find them.&nbsp;</span></p>
Brandi Grissom, Christopher Chang, Jacob Villanueva and Liz CramptonWed, 24 Jun 2015 12:05:05 -0500http://www.texastribune.org/2012/05/09/interactive-map-capitol-confederate-markers/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20SectionsNew Consul Takes on Mexico's Texas Diasporahttp://www.texastribune.org/2015/06/24/carlos-gonzalez-gutierrez-tt-interview/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections
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<p>California has more Mexican immigrants living within its borders than Texas. But in the Lone Star State, the Mexican community is much more diverse. That's just one takeaway from Mexican Consul <a href="http://consulmex.sre.gob.mx/austin/index.php/component/content/article/64">Carlos Gonz&aacute;lez Guti&eacute;rrez</a>. After one month at the helm of Austin's 75-year-old consulate general's office, Gonz&aacute;lez, who served most recently as his country's consul in Sacramento, discussed the challenges and benefits of being a Mexican national in the capital city.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The following is an edited and condensed transcript of the interview.</p>
<p><strong>The Texas Tribune</strong>: How was the consulate&rsquo;s office in Austin selected? Is it based on how many Mexican nationals are in a city?</p>
<p><strong>Carlos Gonz&aacute;lez Guti&eacute;rrez</strong>: The consulate of Mexico in Austin has been here since 1940. We have 50 consulates all around the United States; 11 of them are in Texas.</p>
<p>The responsibility of this consulate general, like any other consulate, is to promote and protect the rights of our nationals in our jurisdictions, promote its interests, and to promote the image and the prestige of Mexico. Because we are in the capital city, a particular responsibility of ours is to follow up and monitor and inform our government about public policies that are designed at the Capitol and the governor&rsquo;s office that will have an impact on Mexicans living in Texas. We also ensure that we are able to transmit to elected and appointed officials our positions in a transparent and clear way.</p>
<p><strong>TT:&nbsp;</strong>Do most people that arrive at the consulate have complaints about the way they are treated? Why do most people come here?</p>
<p><strong>CGG:&nbsp;</strong>The most basic, and perhaps most important, service we can provide is documentation services. We provide travel documents such as passports or ID documents, like consular IDs. We also provide birth certificates and powers of attorneys so people don&rsquo;t have to go to Mexico to conduct a commercial operation. I can act as a civil judge abroad, and according to Mexican law I can marry people. Besides that, there is a protection department. Our responsibility is to provide legal protections to Mexicans in dire straits. We help them with advice, make sure they understand their legal situation, and sometimes we are able to provide them legal counsel, or we refer them to trusted sources of legal counsel. We visit prisons, we visit hospitals. Like any other consulate in the world, we have strong immigration advice for people who live here on an irregular migratory status.</p>
<p><strong>TT:</strong> Do you ever speak to state officials about state immigration policies, like the debate to eliminate in-state tuition for undocumented students? Do you testify or meet with the governor&rsquo;s staff or other lawmakers on those issues?</p>
<p><strong>CGG:</strong> Yes, on almost a daily basis. I do not testify. I am a diplomat, a representative of a foreign government. Even if I were invited to a hearing, it would not be appropriate for me to testify in front of another sovereignty.</p>
<p><strong>TT:</strong> That&rsquo;s according to Mexican law?</p>
<p><strong>CGG:</strong> Yes, it&rsquo;s our policy.</p>
<p><strong>TT:</strong> So you meet behind closed doors with officials?</p>
<p><strong>CGG:</strong> What I do is transmit the position of my government on different issues. The U.S.-Mexico relationship, in particular the Texas-Mexico relationship, it&rsquo;s unique in terms of its intermestic character. &ldquo;Intermestic&rdquo; is a concept that tries to define a relationship in which the line that divides the domestic policy and its foreign policy is blurred. There are many areas of policy that are designed and implemented with a domestic policy focus. But nevertheless, they have an impact across the border. So on the one hand, it&rsquo;s our responsibility at the consulate to let the Mexican government know in Mexico City what the priorities are here. But on the other it&rsquo;s also in the interest of Texas&rsquo; decision makers and, of course, for Mexico to have an active consul in Austin and an active consulate general that is able to transmit with transparency and clarity what are positions are.</p>
<p><strong>TT:</strong> How are you chosen for this office?</p>
<p><strong>CGG:</strong> I am a member of the Mexican Foreign Service, and I have been for 28 years. I have reached the rank of ambassador, which is the top rank of a diplomatic career. I have been able to focus exclusively on Mexican communities in the United States. This is my vocation. This is the area I have been able to concentrate on in my professional career. &nbsp;</p>
<p>Previously I was the consulate general of Mexico in Sacramento. I was the executive director of the institute for Mexicans abroad in the foreign ministry. I have also had positions in the Mexican Embassy in Washington, D.C., and the consulate general of Mexico in Los Angeles.</p>
<p><strong>TT:</strong><span>&nbsp;</span>Do you see that from state to state and city to city, the needs and services you provide are the same? Or do you think the Mexicans living here have different needs or concerns than they do in California?</p>
<p><strong>CGG:</strong>&nbsp;When you talk about our diaspora, you cannot talk about the one Mexican community. You have to talk about the many Mexican communities in the United States. And that is not truer than in Texas. The diversity, the variety, the complexity of the many Mexican communities that coincide here makes my job very challenging and very fascinating. It goes from the Mexican undocumented worker that had to cross the border surreptitiously to the other extreme of a highly skilled Mexican national that lives in Austin because of the global hunt for talent. And in the middle you can think about many other possibilities and communities.&nbsp;The university also attracts a lot of brilliant Mexican students. It&rsquo;s completely diverse.&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>TT:</strong>&nbsp;How long is your term here in Austin?</p>
<p><strong>CGG:</strong>&nbsp;I serve at the please of the president. We are nominated by the president and then ratified by the Senate. Usually a traditional diplomatic tour of duty lasts between two and five years.</p>
<p><strong>TT:</strong>&nbsp;Is that enough time to do what you want to do in Austin?</p>
<p><strong>CGG:</strong>&nbsp;It better be. I have to start fast, and the foreign ministry is supporting this consulate very heavily. We are going to be moving to a building that is more appropriate for our needs. We are going to increase our infrastructure in terms of officers that are working at the consulate. Texas is Mexico&rsquo;s most important partner in the United States. We trade annually about $200 billion, which is twice the amount of [trade between] the U.K. and the U.S. It&rsquo;s three times what Mexico trades with California, and our prosperity depends on Texas and Texas&rsquo; prosperity depends on Mexico. My job is to make sure that awareness of that contribution is widespread. My job is to make sure that people who love Mexico and believe in this relationship contribute their talents and resources to strengthen that relationship.</p>
<p><strong>TT:</strong>&nbsp;When President Obama announced the extension of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (<a href="http://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/ExecutiveActions/EAFlier_DAPA.pdf">DAPA</a>), this office started offering birth certificates to help people apply for the DAPA initiative. Did you change those policies after the immigration plans were placed on hold by the courts?</p>
<p><strong>CGG:</strong>&nbsp;No, we are making sure that people understand that the traditional DACA services (announced in 2012) have not been canceled and that almost half of the population that could benefit from it still has not applied. So we have created new programs, such as a partial reimbursement that we are offering to Mexican nationals who come here and ask for help to apply. The fee is $465; we help them with $150 reimbursement once the process is finished. We are also making sure that people do not fall prey to unscrupulous attorneys or non-attorneys who want to take advantage of the confusion.</p>
<p>The most important challenge that I have is that Mexican nationals understand that we are here to help, that this is a house of services. When your migratory status is irregular ...&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>TT:</strong>&nbsp;How would you define &ldquo;irregular&rdquo;? You mean &ldquo;undocumented&rdquo;?</p>
<p><strong>CGG:</strong><span>&nbsp;</span>Yes, let&rsquo;s be more clear. If you are undocumented and living in Texas, you could have been here for two decades as an undocumented immigrant. When you are living your life that way, you have a permanent feeling of vulnerability because you know you can be deported at any moment. So a particular challenge for the consulate is making sure Mexican nationals understand this office is not an authority from which they should keep a distance, but instead an office that is here to help. It&rsquo;s an office that is staffed by professional, trained people that will help integrate them into U.S. society.&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>TT:</strong><span>&nbsp;</span>Is this building considered Mexican soil, like an embassy? Can someone come here for protection? Is U.S. law enforcement allowed in here?</p>
<p><strong>CGG:</strong><span>&nbsp;</span>It has diplomatic and consular immunity. It&rsquo;s not as if it is Mexican territory. If the unthinkable happened, we&rsquo;d need to call the police. But there are certain procedures and protocols that according to the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations have to be followed. They cannot enter without an invitation from the head of the mission.</p>
<p><strong>TT:</strong>&nbsp;Are you a member of the PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party) in Mexico?</p>
<p><strong>CGG:</strong><span>&nbsp;</span>No, I am not a member of any political party. I am a career diplomat and a Foreign Service official. Being a career diplomat allows me to work with whoever is elected president by the people of Mexico.</p>
<p><strong>TT:</strong>&nbsp;Do you have an opinion in the recent nomination of Secretary <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/02/world/americas/obama-plans-to-nominate-roberta-jacobson-to-be-ambassador-to-mexico.html">Roberta Jacobson</a> for the United States ambassador to Mexico?</p>
<p><strong>CGG:</strong>&nbsp;Yes, I think that it&rsquo;s one of the top-ranked diplomats that the United States has. Her nomination has been very well received in Mexico, and it shows clearly the top-priority status Mexico has for the president of the United States. And I am sure she will be welcomed with open arms in Mexico.&nbsp;</p>
Julián AguilarWed, 24 Jun 2015 06:00:00 -0500http://www.texastribune.org/2015/06/24/carlos-gonzalez-gutierrez-tt-interview/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune%20Feed:%20The%20Texas%20Tribune%20Sections